Welcome to the final week of my first-time-reading-Twilight-blog-experience! We are at chapter 18 and we will go through the end of the book this week. Thank you all for joining me on this adventure to celebrate 20 years of Twilight.
If you are still looking for some more Twilight fun, I hope you will come to our 20th Anniversary Twilight Party at the Fairborn Library on Saturday November 15, 6:30-8:00.
Chapter 18: The Hunt
Whoa, I was not expecting all the action of this chapter!! We meet a new group of vampires: Laurent, Victoria, and James. The differences and interactions between the Cullens and this new group was interesting. They clearly have different vampire-life philosophies and we also see Bella actually feeling the sense of fear in this situation! It’s been around 300 pages of Bella not being afraid, even though she knows she should be, to finally being so scared that she is frozen in place.
I’m not sure if I agree with the quick plan they put together to get Bella away from the danger of the tracker. I understand that they are trying to protect Bella from a dangerous situation that will move quickly, but they also seem to be forgetting that she is 17 and has a parent at home. It doesn’t seem feasible that she can go home for 15 min and then just decide to leave. What do you think of this plan?
Chapter 19: Goodbyes
Well, that plan came together very quickly! I’m surprised how easily Bella was able to leave her home and that Charlie didn’t stop her. How does the fast pace of this section of the book make you feel? I am feeling a little anxious and nervous for Bella’s safety! (but, also, not too nervous because I know there are more books in this series )
Chapter 20: Impatience
The biggest part of this chapter, to me, is learning about how vampires are made! We hear Alice tell Bella her theory of how a vampire is made, even though she doesn’t have the actual memory herself. I do wonder why Alice doesn’t have this memory since most vampires keep this as their most vivid and painful memory. Maybe we will get more of Alice’s backstory in the future?
What did you think about the vision that Alice has in this chapter and how do you think it relates to the tracking of Bella? Do you think the Cullens will be able to protect her easily?
Chapter 21: Phone Call
This was a quick but powerful chapter. I can’t believe the tracker has Bella’s mom! Bella is certainly a little delusional to think that she can successfully escape from Alice and Jasper but I appreciate her willingness to try and her continued thinking that she doesn’t want anyone to come to any harm on her behalf.
Chapter 22: Hide-and-Seek
So, in this reading of Twilight, I have been writing these reaction blog posts in real time—I will read a chapter and then write my reflections on it. I am now laughing at myself from just a few minutes ago when I was sure Bella would not be able to escape Alice and Jasper, but then she did it so easily! She also, finally, refers to Forks as her home. This feels like a huge character development for her!
We finally get the scene that is referenced in the preface about “the hunter” in “the long room”. Bella has taken her destiny in her own hands by running off on her own to try to save her mom. Were you surprised that it was all a trap and that Bella’s mom was not actually in danger? I was! I am feeling a little scared for Bella right now! She is not doing great at the end of this chapter and I hope someone comes to save her soon! What do you think about this section?
Chapter 23: The Angel
This was a short chapter, but I am relieved that Edward, Carlisle, and Alice made it in time to save Bella! Edward is compared to an angel in this chapter which aligns consistently with Bella’s perception of him as perfect and beautiful.
Chapter 24: An Impasse
I am feeling more relief in this chapter that Bella is okay and is recovering in the hospital. Tell me I wasn’t the only one who thought she might have been turned into a vampire at the end of that last chapter! It’s very interesting to me that she is almost regretting that she wasn’t turned. She really seems to want this for herself and her life.
Epilogue: An Occasion
This was a great ending to this book! I love that we are back in Forks and that Bella and Edward go to prom together! It feels sweet that we end on such a nice, high school experience, that bookends the beginning’s experience of starting at a new high school. There are two things that stood out to me the most in this final chapter. First, Bella is very insistent about wanting to be turned into a vampire. This feels so wild to me. Edward is trying to show her that she should have regular human, teenage girl experiences and she wants nothing to do with it. It does not seem like she is going to give up this position. Second, we get one final scene with Jacob Black! I was happy that he made an appearance at prom to chat with Bella. He’s not in this book very much, but I really like him as a character, even if his message and warnings were a little ominous.
Well, we did it! We made it to the end of Twilight. I really enjoyed this experience reading Twilight for the very first time 20 years after it was originally published. I had a lot of preconceived thoughts about the story and the writing and I am so happy to be proven wrong. This was a fun and entertaining book with an engaging story line that had me feeling so many emotions! I don’t think I can pick Team Edward or Team Jacob yet, based on this book alone…so I think that means I have to keep reading this series.
Thank you so much for reading this far into my blog posts about this and I hope to see you at our Twilight Party in November!
Add a comment to: Twilight, the final post